Aulus Gabinius

Aulus Gabinius (died 47 BC) was a Consul of the Roman Republic in 58 BC and later Governor of Roman Syria from 57 to 54 BC. He was famous for his 57 BC suppression of Alexander of Judea's Jewish uprising and his 55 BC expedition to Egypt, where he restored Ptolemy XII Auletes to power and left behind the Gabiniani to protect his rule.

Biography
Aulus Gabinius' first office was Tribune of the Plebs in 67 BC, and he gave Pompey the Great command in the war against the Mediterranean pirates. In 65 BC, he led two legions into northern Mesopotamia to force the Parthian king Phraates III to sign a treaty with Pompey. He secured the consulship through bribery and the support of the First Triumvirate in 58 BC, and he brought about the exile of Cicero.

Judean rebellion
In 57 BC, Gabinius became proconsul of Roman Syria, and he prevented one of Berenice IV's potential husbands from leaving. Mark Antony served on his staff, the first formal public appointment for Antony, who had no exprerience of military life or military responsibility. Antony later successfully petitioned for command of all of the cavalry in Gabinius' army, and he became praefectus equitum. Gabinius interfered in a Judean civil war, fighting against Alexander of Judea, who had raised an army of 10,000 infantry and 1,500 cavalry and rebelled against his uncle Hyrcanus II. Gabinius moved against Alexander and sent Antony and some other officers on ahead, with Antony being in overall command. A good deal of Antony's force consisted of Jewish troops loyal to Hyrcanus, while there were also some hastily-armed local Roman businessmen who were impressed into service. Alexander withdrew before fighting near Jerusalem, at which he was badly beaten. More than half of Alexander's men were killed or captured, and he withdrew nrotheast to the fortress of Alexandrion in the Jordan Valley. Gabinius now joined his advance force and the rebels were defeated again. Alexandrion surrendered after a siege when Alexander was persuaded to come to terms, and Antony was left in charge of the fortress while Gabinius led the main army in a show of force through the countryside.

However, Alexander's father Aristobulus II managed to escape from Rome in 56 BC and seized Alexandrion. Gabinius sent Antony and two other officers, one of whom was his son, with a force to deal with the fresh rebellion. Aristobulus abandoned Alexandrion as untenable and retreated across the Jordan towards the fortress of Machaerus, and he shed those supporters unable or unequipped to fight, leaving him with 8,000 troops, including 1,000 royal army deserters. Aristobulus and 1,000 men made it to Machaerus and prepared to withstand a siege, but the Romans took the city after a two-day assault, and Aristobulus again went to Rome as a prisoner.

Gabinius began to look for fresh opportunities for military adventure. He planned to lead an army across the Euphrates to intervene in a Parthian civil war, but Ptolemy XII Auletes made him a better offer, offering him 10,000 talents of silver if he used his army to restore the king to power. Antony supported the move, hoping that he would receive a share of the money and pay off his debts. Sulla's law forbade a provincial governor from leading an army outside of his province without explicit authority, but Gabinius ignored the law. His legions moved through Judea and headed southwest to Egypt in 55 BC, accompanied by a contingent of Jewish troops from Hyrcanus' army, led by his henchman Antipater the Idumean. Hyrcanus also issued orders for food and other support to be supplied to the Romans. Antipater persuaded the Jewish mercenaries in the Nile Delta at Pelusium to change sides and let the Romans through, and Antony was credited with the capture of Pelusium. Auletes resented the bloodless capture of Pelusium, as he wanted to announce his return by a mass execution of his recalcitrant subjects. Some more serious fighting occurred afterwards, and Berenice IV's husband was killed in battle. The decaying cleruchy system led to the land being passed on to heirs without enforcement of the obligation to serve, and the Ptolemies relied on the use of mercenaries. After a brief fight, Ptolemy Auletes was restored, and he had his daughter Berenice IV and her leading supporters executed. Antony won the admiration of many Alexandrians for having Berenice's husband be given a proper burial, as the two of them had known each other earlier. During this campaign, Antony first saw the fourteen-year-old Cleopatra and fell in love with her. Both in Judea and Egypt, Gabinius' army had been markedly stronger and better equipped than the hastily raised forces opposing them, and Gabinius led the bulk of his army back to his province and suppressed another rising in Judea before proceeding to campaign against the Nabatean Arabs.

In 54 BC, a new governor, Marcus Licinius Crassus, arrived to take over as proconsul of Syria and Gabinius returned to Rome with his newly acquired fortune, which had been paid by Ptolemy with borrowed money. Gabinius' official reports to the Senate as governor had failed to mention his illegal expedition to Egypt, but the truth was widely known. Pompey saw the attacks on Gabinius as a challenge to his own status and strenuously supported him. To general amazement, he was narrowly acquitted of treason for leading an army outside his province. Arraigned on a second charge, and defended by Cicero, who very reluctantly gave in to Pompey's pressure, Gabinius was convicted and went into exile.

After the outbreak of Caesar's Civil War in 49 BC, Gabinius entered Julius Caesar's service, but took no active part in the war against his old patron, Pompey. After the Battle of Pharsalus, he transported troops to Illyricum, and he made his way to Salona after being attacked by Dalmatians. He died of illness in 47 BC.